The Jordan Times
By Laila Azzeh



AMMAN-In a country where more than 70 per cent of the population is under the age of 30, all national strategies should be crafted with an eye on investing in young people′s potentials and aspirations, experts said on Sunday.

UNFPA′s 37th report of the State of the World Population in 2014, which was issued earlier this month, underlined the need for policy makers to prioritise the needs of young people and make room for them to realise development goals through meaningful representation by youth.

We are now on the threshold of a global development movement to reach consensus on global development priorities beyond 2015. A young person at the age of 10 today will be an adult in 2030, the target year for achieving the next generation of sustainable development goals, HRH Princess Basma, UNFPA goodwill ambassador, said at a ceremony on Sunday where she received a copy of the report,

Citing the report, the princess noted that over 500 million young people live on less than $2 a day, warning that this widens the gap between them and their peers in other parts of the world.

The report also draws attention to the need to invest in the health and education of the younger generation as well as their participation in all aspects of political, economic and social life, she added.

These should be among the core goals in global and national agendas. Equally important is to ensure direct and special focus on gender equality and empowerment of women in order to create a better future.

The princess underscored the importance of measures taken by Jordan to raise the age of marriage to 18 in contributing to empowering women, while calling for more efforts to eliminate gender-based violence and improve reproductive health.

Despite challenges and The difficult situation we are facing, we in Jordan must work night and day, and spare no effort for the sake of our young women and men. The different sectors, institutions and individuals need to work to develop youth capabilities,she said.

Princess Basma noted that this is the way to ensure that people become the transformative energy that changes countries

Titled The Power of 1.8 billion: Adolescents, Youth and the Transformation of the Future, the report highlighted that with more than 1.8 billion of people in the world between the ages of 10 and 24, never before have there been so many young people, yet never again is there likely to be such potential for economic and social progress.

However, the only way to benefit from such opportunity is by drawing up the right policies and investments in order to realise a demographic dividend that can be made possible by lowering mortality and fertility rates, the report added.

In Jordan, the demographic opportunity is expected in 2030 when the ratio of dependents to workers is the lowest.

Suad Nabhan, UNFPA assistant representative in the Kingdom, stressed the importance of the report in introducing new ways to invest in young people in the education, health and labour sectors, while protecting their reproductive rights.

All of this can ensure that Jordan is ready when the demographic opportunity peaks in 2030, she said.

During the ceremony, Minister of Labour Nidal Katamine noted that the highest rate of unemployment in the Kingdom is among those aged between 15 and 25, citing the distorted understanding of how technical education and training can address joblessness.

He indicated that the ministry has established special units at the ministries of health, ICT, housing, trade and agriculture to analyse unemployment in each of these sectors.

Recruitment fairs held under the National Employment Campaign have provided job opportunities to 55,000 young Jordanians, according to Katamine.